


Drowning

by irishlullaby13



Category: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Tropes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 21:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4851620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irishlullaby13/pseuds/irishlullaby13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trapped. No way out.  Water slowly rising.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drowning

No way out. 

Out of all the ways they could have gone out, this had to be the worst possible. Trapped in tunnels underneath Sleepy Hollow because neither had been fast enough to make it past the explosion points they were using to trap the latest in a string of evil creatures sent to make hell on earth. 

Abbie blamed herself. If Crane hadn't been so focused on not out-running her or leaving her behind, if she had just run faster... He could have at least been safe and continued to fight without her. 

They had always thought they would make it onto the other side of the Apocalypse, laughing in the face of fate and destiny as they defied the odds. Never did they imagine they would be trapped in a tunnel as it slowly with water, the only exit barred over and no way for them to reach out or call for help. It had already been over an hour and the water was almost to Abbie's hips. More was pouring in from the side they had trapped the creature on. 

They had already been through panic and were at the acceptance stage. More so since both of their phones were caked in mud and drenched in water. There was no way for them to call for help... not that anyone _could_ help. Jenny was on the run, hadn't been heard from for weeks. And no one else really knew where they were or what they were doing.

So no chance of rescue.

At least they had succeeded in their mission to collapse the tunnel so the creature couldn't escape. One last great deed to save mankind. 

Ichabod paced restlessly through the water. Abbie knew it had to be hard on him. He already had a dislike of closed in spaces and a fear of drowning... and now it seemed both were going to be his demise.

Abbie was seated on a small ledge on his coat, which he had stretched out for her because, regardless of the situation he was always a gentleman first. Her heart shuddered when a rock fell away from the side repressing the water and let water start pouring in faster. Ichabod stopped his pacing and watched the stream of water for a long moment before looking to her.

She could see a mix of emotions in his eyes. _Fear, regret, sadness, and... love?_

No... no... not now, she said to herself. _Don't you dare say it now, Ichabod Crane_. She couldn't bare it if he said it now, of all times.

Ichabod strode to her as purposely as the rising water allowed. He drew in a deep breath as he put his hands on her knees for a brief moment before clasping them behind his back. "At least it'll be over quicker, eh?" Abbie said with a forced, bitter laugh. She put her hands on her thighs and sighed heavily as another rock was worked free by the force of the water. "Maybe we'll be lucky and the wall will completely collapse and it'll be over in no time."

His hands covered hers and he squeezed gently. "Lieutenant..."

Abbie felt her heart warm. It had been _forever_ since he had called her that. _Don't say it_ , she mentally pleaded again. "Captain," she said quietly. _Don't you say it either_ , she reminded the little voice in her own head that wanted to say it.

"I once made a vow to you," he said. He slid a hand behind her neck and pulled her forehead against his. "That no matter our fate in this apocalypse, Grace Abigail Mills, that our fates were entwined and we would be... together."

_Dammit, he said it_. Abbie closed her eyes and breathed in slowly to try and calm the urge to let tears flow. She could hear the wall of rocks breaking away. She could feel the water rising up her legs even faster. Water was soaking into the coat she was sitting on. "And so here we are," Abbie replied. "I wasn't fast enough... You should have just left me behind."

"Leaving you behind is never an option, so do not dare blame yourself for our predicament," Ichabod said sternly. "I must have misjudged how much time we had and..."

Abbie hushed him by kissing him. They could either spend what precious little time they had blaming themselves to make the other feel better, or they could spend it doing something they had been resisting practically since day one. She slid her arms around his neck when he started to return it.

Even as the water reached their shoulders they continued because, if they were going out, they were going to go out on their own terms. They refused to let fear make them panic, instead they would leave this world knowing they had let fear make them unafraid to love, even if it was just for a few more minutes.

"ABBIE? CRANE?"

Both Abbie and Ichabod's eyes widened as they parted and swam to the grate covering their only possible exit. "Joe?!" Abbie called as they looked up through the bars.

Joe peered down from the top of the narrow tunnel followed by Jenny, who grinned brightly. "Sorry," Jenny called. "Took us longer than expected to track you down. Now, get out of the way or get under water." She held up a grenade and removed the pin as a wicked smile crossed her lips.

A few minutes later, after they had been rescued, Abbie and Ichabod huddled under the blanket Joe and Jenny had thrown around them to warm them up. Apparently Jenny had been hiding out at the cabin for the last few days and had helped Joe find them when he had been unable to locate them. Both Abbie and Ichabod now felt like fools for not trusting that everything would work itself out in the end and were avoiding looking at each other.

"We were panicking," Ichabod said after a long bout of silence, once Jenny and Joe had gone to the car to get stuff to make a fire. He kept his gaze straight ahead.

"We thought we were going to die," Abbie added.

There was another long bout of silence. Abbie glanced toward Ichabod the same moment he looked toward her. Both smiled shyly when their eyes met.

"It was actually... very nice," Abbie admitted.

"Just nice?" Ichabod asked, a teasing tone in his voice.

Abbie gave him a playful shove. "We almost died, I am _not_ stroking your ego right now."

Ichabod eased an arm around her waist and hugged her to his side. "Contrary to what you believe, Lieutenant, my ego is not in need of stroking. I was simply going to point out that I was on the other side of the kiss so I know it was not simply _nice_."

"I said it was 'very nice'," Abbie corrected, making sure to sound offended. Ichabod gave her a look she could only describe as annoyed. She held his gaze for a grand total of two seconds before they dissolved into laughter, leaning against each other.

She wasn't really sure what happened or how the next kiss came about, just that one second they were laughing and the next his mouth was on hers and her fingers were clenching his hair. They were so involved they didn't even notice when Jenny and Joe walked up then promptly turned and walked back away.

When it ended, Abbie let out a ragged breath. "That was a little better than nice," she said, slightly breathless.

She didn't even wait for his admonished retort. Instead she kissed him again.


End file.
